Since arms export sanctions were lifted against India and Pakistan last year, the U.S. State Department has approved a number of export licenses to India. So far, none has been approved for Pakistan. According to recently released notifications to Congress, the licenses approved for India span a wide array of military equipment, including remote operating sensor vehicles, aircraft engines, and military aircraft equipment.
NEW DELHI - India plans fast-track serial production of the indigenous anti-tank Nag missile, following two successful tests on June 21. The tests were the 43rd and 44th flight tests of the missile, which the Indian ministry of defense said is a third-generation system with "fire and forget" and top-attack capabilities. The missile will be mounted on the Advanced Light Helicopter, which went into serial production earlier this year.
On June 24, NASA managers temporarily suspended launch preparations for space shuttle Columbia's next mission to give them more time to analyze several small cracks that have been found inside propellant lines on other orbiters.
In a ceremony held at the Pentagon June 24, Italy officially joined the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, pledging about $1 billion to the system development and demonstration (SDD) phase of the program.
FIRE CONTAINED: A fire at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., has been contained, the base said. At one point, the firefight had involved more than 900 firefighters. There were four minor injuries to firefighters and no fatalities, according to the base.
Following eight weeks of test flights onboard a 757 research aircraft, scientists with NASA's Aviation Safety Program (AvSP) are evaluating the performance of a new enhanced radar system designed to more accurately predict turbulence. The radar carried aboard the 757 Airborne Research Integrated Experiments System (ARIES) aircraft was designed to detect turbulent conditions by measuring the motions of the moisture in the air. The system represents an upgrade to existing predictive Doppler wind shear systems, according to NASA.
EAGLE DELIVERY: Boeing has delivered the first of 10 new F-15E Strike Eagles it is producing for the Air Force, the company said June 24. The aircraft, delivered June 21, was the 227th Strike Eagle built at the company's facility in St. Louis.
The U.S. Army Aviation & Missile Command in Huntsville, Ala., has ordered $35 million worth of Stinger missiles from Raytheon Co. and $33.4 million worth of Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles from Lockheed Martin Corp. Raytheon will provide more than 370 Stinger Block I and Re-programmable Microprocessor (RMP) missiles under the contract, announced June 21. The award supports the Army's plan to provide Stinger missiles to maneuver forces until 2017, the company said.
777 WORK: Mechanics at Boeing's Everett, Wash., facility have begun assembling the first of two new longer-range Boeing 777s, the company said June 20. Workers began the major assembly process for the 777-300ER (extended range) aircraft by loading a 97-foot wing spar into a tool that drills, measures and installs more than 5,000 fasteners. The first 777-300ER is scheduled to roll out of the factory in November.
(Editor's note: The following is excerpted from the written responses by Air Force Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart, who is nominated to be commander-in-chief, U.S. Northern Command, to written questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee. Eberhart testified June 20.) Q: What is your understanding of the duties and functions of the commander-in-chief, U.S. Northern Command?
OVERWEIGHT: UBS Warburg says U.S. defense stocks are not overvalued and that investors should buy additional stocks, given their tendency to outperform the Standard & Poor's 500 in times of increased defense spending. "We recommend that investors overweight shares of the U.S. defense sector, as we expect the group to outperform the general market in the current environment of higher defense budgets, economic uncertainty and war," lead aerospace and defense analyst David Strauss says in the report.
Bell Helicopter filed a lawsuit June 17 against two companies specializing in aircraft maintenance and repair as part of its ongoing effort to stop what it calls the "counterfeiting" of its registered trademark parts. The lawsuit, filed in federal district court in Seattle, charges the companies with supplying parts that have been "substantially reconstructed" but which retain the Bell trademark.
RADAR IMMERSION: The Missile Defense Agency is nearing a decision on the proposed X-band radar system, agency head Lt. Gen. Ronald Kadish says. "We're nearing some decisions about X-band and the entire program as well as what role ... sensors will play," Kadish says, adding that senior MDA officials are reviewing the requirements for radars and sensors in "radar immersion" sessions. "As a result of that process, I think we're going to be in a position to know within the next few months ... at least the initial way we're going to go with the test bed," he says.
OBSERVATORY FUNDING: U.S. lawmakers from New Mexico are seeking $30 million in the fiscal 2003 defense appropriations bill to finish work on the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in central New Mexico. The observatory, which will be located on the main ridge of the Magdalena Mountains, is designed to improve the tracking of daytime missile tests at White Sands Missile Range by providing coverage from an additional direction. It also will serve as an astronomical observatory at night, providing sharper images than existing observatories.
SUPER FROG RETURN: The Army's renewed commitment to developing an intra-theater transport aircraft has "breathed life" into Boeing's hopes for its Advanced Theater Transport (ATT), a tailless, tiltwing concept for a C-130 replacement, according to Chris Raymond, a business development manager at Boeing Aircraft and Missiles. Once dubbed the "Super Frog" because of its short take off and landing capability, Boeing's ATT is envisioned as an aircraft that could carry a load similar to a C-130 but land on a 750-foot strip.
HORNET CONTRACT: Northrop Grumman Integrated Systems will provide replacement structural assemblies to extend the life of F/A-18 Hornet aircraft operated by the U.S. Navy and the air forces of Canada and Finland. The work will be done under an $11.5 million Navy contract, and is expected to be completed by September 2004. The company will provide seven center barrel sections for the Navy and five for Canada. It will provide five engine nacelle sets for the Navy and one for Finland, and spares.
June 24 - 27 -- National Defense Industrial Association presents the 2002 Simulation Based Acquistion & Advanced Systems Engineering Environment Conference, Hilton McLean Tysons Corner, Va. For more information contact Derek Jenks at [email protected]. June 24 - 27 -- The Air Force Research Laboratory and other agencies present the National Space & Missile Materials Symposium, Colorado Springs, Colo. For more information visit www.usasymposium.com.
HILL ACTION: Congress hopes to make progress on several defense-related bills the week of June 24-28. In the Senate, consideration of the fiscal 2003 defense authorization bill will resume June 24. Debate could last much of the week, with a fight expected over Republican attempts to reverse an $814 million cut in the Bush Administration's missile defense request. In the House, the Appropriations Committee plans to take up the FY '03 defense appropriations bill late June 24. The full House is slated to consider the appropriations bill June 27.
RED FLAG: Eleven companies have been added to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security list of "unverified end-users," or foreign companies where the U.S. Government was unable to perform post-shipment checks on sensitive U.S. exports. "End-use visits are a normal part of U.S. high-technology trade and are conducted regularly with our trading partners. The inability to conduct such a visit with respect to a licensed U.S. export naturally raises concerns regarding the ultimate end user of that export," says Kenneth I.
The value of unmanned aerial vehicles produced over the next 10 years could reach $7.5 billion, largely because of their successes in Afghanistan, according to a report from Forecast International/DMS that was released last week.
GOING DIGITAL: The Boeing Co., which normally looks for approval in the E ring of the Pentagon or at NASA, is basking in the praise of movie critic Roger Ebert. During a recent digital screening of the newest "Star Wars" movie, "Attack of the Clones," the film critic was very impressed with the company's new digital movie system, according to Boeing officials. Based out of the company's Space and Communication division in El Segundo, Calif., Boeing Digital Cinema is only a little over a year old.
Canadian Sea King helicopters are being equipped with missile defense systems, the result of an initiative that originated just after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. The aging helicopters, which have been in service since the 1960s, will get radar warning receivers and jammers, said Capt. Rick Eng, a spokesman for Canadian Forces Base Shearwater near Halifax, Nova Scotia.
HIGH HOPES: Officials with the French Aerospace Industries Association (GIFAS) hope the new center-right government of President Jacques Chirac will beef up defense spending. "Of course, industry expects that the investment in defense will stop decreasing. After all, its gone down for many, many years," a GIFAS spokeswoman says. GIFAS officials in Paris say they hope the new government will increase spending, as a percentage of gross domestic product, from 1.7 percent to 2.3 percent.
NEW DELHI - India and the United States will share information on air operations against terrorism during Indian air force Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy's visit to Washington, which begins June 24. A senior Indian ministry of defense source said the U.S. Air Force will brief Krishnaswamy and Indian delegates on Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and the delegates will reveal information on Indian defense actions in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir.
